Google Disables RCS Feature on Messages App on Android Phones in India

Due to the nonchalant attitude of cellular service providers and phone manufacturers, Google had to wait longer to introduce RCS (Rich Communication Services) for Android phones to enrich traditional text SMS in 2019. This has led them to support the exchange of multimedia content. on par with rival Apple Messages app.

However, commercial companies have abused the multimedia-friendly RCS feature to flood the Messages app with advertisements on Android phones. It had become a huge mess, especially in India, and over the past couple of weeks several annoyed consumers have taken their anger out on Google on social media platforms.

Aware of the problem, the search engine giant has disabled the RCS feature on the Messages app in India.

“We are aware that some companies are abusing our anti-spam policies to send promotional messages to users in India. We are disabling this feature in India as we work with the industry to improve user experience,” said one. Google spokesperson at DH. .

Here are some of the comments from users on Twitter regarding ads on the Google Messages app:

Google Messages is becoming the worst possible Google app.

The amount of ads it sends is crazy, multiple every day. Yes, these are NOT messages, these are advertisements sent by the app to 🇮🇳 Indian users.

It’s the default messaging app on most Android phones here. 😑 pic.twitter.com/8EYnIh5cd9

—Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) May 16, 2022

Hey @Google why is my Messages app so shitty now? He shows a blank screen at least once a day, has “problems sending” messages, and cannot search for messages by contact or keyword. It has been almost unusable for more than 3 weeks pic.twitter.com/JvhDdf1sKF

— Vivian #8toAbolition (@VivaLaChang) June 1, 2022

The issue has been resolved for now, but Google is investigating how soon it can fix the spam filter to block ads and reintroduce RCS functionality to the Messages app.

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